Animal health is considered an attractive business for drugmakers as there are fewer worries about patent expiries and regulatory interventions, and a growing middle-class population in emerging markets means more people can afford pets.

However, the worst drought in the United States in more than half a century has hit sales across the industry.

Zoetis said sales of livestock products rose just 2 percent, compared with a 13 percent rise in pet products sales.

“Coming on the heels of weak/mixed results from other animal health businesses, we view today’s update as a positive,” J.P. Morgan analyst Chris Schott said in a note.

Eli Lilly and Co’s (LLY.N) animal health division posted weak first-quarter results and the company said livestock products had run into a cyclical slump globally.

The company, which sells drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for livestock and pets, forecast 2013 adjusted earnings of $1.36 to $1.42 per share, largely in line with the average analyst estimate of $1.38.

Zoetis’s net income for the first quarter rose 26 percent to $140 million, or 28 cents per share, from $111 million, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier.

Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, divested Zoetis as part of its plan to focus on its core prescription drugs business. Pfizer also sold its infant nutrition business to Nestle SA NESN.VX for $11.9 billion last year.

The Zoetis business began in 1952 as the agriculture division of Pfizer and has steadily grown through in-house research and almost a dozen acquisitions, including the animal health units of rival drugmakers.